Lies and Truth
by Dance FLY
Summary: What waits for Desmond in death?


Pain. It ripped through him without mercy or relief. It was a hundred- no a thousand times worse than any time he had "died" while in the Animus. Unimaginably worse than any pain he had ever felt. Yet despite all of that one tiny thread of thought floated through his mind.

Juno lied. He definitely felt _a thing_.

Shocker.

And then as quickly as the pain started, it vanished. Desmond's eyes flew open and he sat up gasping. As he struggled to catch his breath he looked around. It was grey. Everywhere. Nothing but grey. Actually, it looked a lot like when he was in the Animus when the program was loading. _Death is going to get old real fast,_ Desmond mused to himself.

"Desmond."

He didn't scream. Sure he was surprised, and maybe he made a noise of exclamation but he was a grown-ass man, and a freaking Assassin on top of that, so he definitely didn't scream.

"Minerva! Wait, what are you doing here? Am I not dead? Oh God, please tell me that it worked," Desmond moaned.

Minerva's lips twitched towards a smile. "Do not fear, your actions did work and the world is saved," she told him. But her smile quickly fell. "For now at least. I fear for the sake of humanity with Juno unleased upon the world."

"Maybe you need to have more faith in humanity. We're a pretty tough bunch," Desmond pointed out.

"We will see I suppose," Minerva replied. "I am afraid that you are truly dead though Desmond."

Desmond sighed. He figured as much. "And this is death is it?" he asked looking around.

"No."

Desmond's head shot towards her. "No?"

"No. This is a place of in between. Before you travelled on to the afterlife I had one last truth to share with you, which I thought was owed to you," Minerva said.

"I really don't know how much more truth I can handle," Desmond said both warily.

"This you will want to know," Minerva assured him. "As you have seen Juno is a skilled liar. One of her lies needs to be unravelled before you travel to the afterlife. Lucy Stillman was never going to betray you."

It felt like someone knocked the wind out of him. " _What?_ " he managed to gasp.

Minerva regarded him with sympathy. "The visions Juno showed you weren't real. Lucy was an Assassin through and through."

Desmond reeled. "But… why? Why would she lie? Why would she want me to kill Lucy? _Why?!_ "

"Because had she lived, you never would have done it." Seeing Desmond's confusion she continued. "For every good person, most of the bad ones too even, there is one person or small set of people, that they cannot sacrifice for the greater good. Even with Assassins. If Lucy had been with you when Juno and I presented you with your choice, it would've been far harder for you to make the choice you did. And even if you did still make the same choice, Lucy wouldn't have let you follow through on it. Such it is with the human race when love is involved. So Juno showed you the one thing that would make you doubt Lucy and then forced your hand and made you believe you had partially decided it."

"How could you possibly know how I felt about her?" Desmond asked wearily. "I never told anyone about that, I had just barely realized it myself when I- I…"

He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. And for the first time in many years, Desmond Miles cried.

"Oh child," Minerva said sadly placing a hand on his back as he sank to the ground. "Love is not something that takes time. And once it has formed it is usually clear for others to see." Once Desmond ran out of tears she continued. "She loved you too."

"I doubt she still does," Desmond said bitterly.

"You may be surprised," Minerva said.

"Why did you tell me all this?" Desmond asked her.

Minerva pondered the question for a moment. "As I said I felt you had a right to know. I feel partially responsible for Juno and it was unfair of her to tell you all the lies she did. And you sacrificed yourself for the world, which I believe should mean you're entitled to a happy ending. Or, maybe I just like to see two people get to be in love," she said.

"But couldn't have Lucy have told me this?" Desmond asked.

"Would you have believed her?" Minerva countered. Desmond didn't have an answer for that. "Now I have told you all that you need to know," she said. A brilliant white portal appeared in front of them. "When you are ready this will take you to the afterlife. I'll give you a moment alone to collect yourself," she said as stood. "Good bye Desmond Miles."

"Good bye Minerva. Thank-you. For everything."

She smiled and nodded before stepping into the white light and disappearing. He somehow knew he would never see her again. Taking a deep breath he stood up and faced the portal. Then he walked through. There were many faces there to greet him in a green pasture. Altair gave him a small smile. Ezio grinned at him. Connor solemnly nodded. Clay gave him a thumbs up. His mother beamed. And Lucy. He barely saw her before she threw herself at him with a sob.

"Desmond! I saw what you said. Please you have to know I _never_ would've betrayed you! Juno must've lied," she said into his shoulder.

Desmond brought his arms up around her and squeezed her tight to him. "I know."

"Really?" she gasped daring to look up at him.

"Really," he said with a smile. "Minerva just explained everything to me." But then his smiled dropped. "Lucy can you ever forgive me?"

Now she smiled. "There's nothing to forgive. Truthfully part of me is glad you killed me."

Desmond just stared at her speechless.

"I love you Desmond. I wouldn't have been able to let you go. Not even to save the world. So I'm glad I died so that the world could be saved," she told him.

Desmond sighed. "I can't be glad that you're dead. I'm not totally happy I'm dead either, but it is what it is. But I am glad that we're together," he told her with a small smile.

And with that he greeted the rest of his family, some of them for the first time in person, and he never let go of Lucy's hand.


End file.
